from the estate of Margrave Ludwig Georg von Baden
Meissen, around 1750
painted by Johann Jakob Wagner (1710-1797), the diamond-set gold mount Dresden, around 1750
The extremely high-quality Meissen tobacco tin is finely painted on all sides with delicate scenes of shepherds and loving couples, framed by rocailles “en relief” that are also colored. They were executed by Johann Jakob Wagner, who was head painter at the Meissen porcelain manufactory from 1745. The precious gold tobacco tin set with diamonds was presented to Margrave Ludwig Georg von Baden by King Augustus II of Poland, Elector of Saxony. The occasion was his marriage to Mary Anna, Princess of Bavaria, in 1755.
The tobacco tin remained in the possession of the House of Baden and was exhibited in the art chamber of the Grand Ducal Residence Palace in Karlsruhe from 1883 onwards and was displayed repeatedly until the great Baden auction in 1995.
Literature: Karl Koelitz, Beschreibendes Inventar der Allerhöchsten Privatsammlung kunstgewerblicher Gegenstände (Zähringer-Museum), Karlsruhe 1883, no. 1889 (the tobacco tin bears an adhesive label with the number 1889)
Marc Rosenberg, Die Kunstkammer im großherzoglichen Residenzschloss zu Karlsruhe, Karlsruhe 1892, plate 25
Galeriedirektor Richter, Inventar des Zähringer-Museums, Neues Schloss, Baden-Baden 1919, no. 934 (the tobacco tin still bears this inventory label today).
Provenance: Auction Collection of the Margraves and Grand Dukes of Baden, Sotheby's, Baden-Baden, October 5-21, 1995, lot 808.
Height: 4.2 cm, width: 8 cm, depth: 6.3 cm